Homes for Working Families Planned for ‘The States’

Aug 17, 2019 at 8:31 am News Channel 8

With the help of Sheriff Grady Judd, crews for Elite Site Solutions and Arizona Holdings have begun demolishing dilapidated trailers to make way for new low-cost housing. Son-and-father developers Chad and Jim Myers plan to place rent-to-own homes along Arizona, Colorado and Idaho avenues in an area known as “The States” (south of Main Street and several blocks west of Combee Road) that had been a haven for criminals, Judd said.
ALSO: Ledger coverage | photo gallery | video: Judd interview

Neighborhoods/ Transportation

Work Under Cleveland Heights Blvd. Extended Two Weeks

Aug 8, 2019 at 12:46 pm

The city of Lakeland had hoped to finish a project disrupting traffic on Cleveland Heights Boulevard before the start of classes Monday at nearby Carlton Palmore Elementary School. But officials said today that recent rains have delayed completion of the project by about two weeks. More

Neighborhoods

Seminole Tribe Planning Rural Housing Near Lakeland

Aug 6, 2019 at 4:52 pm

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is planning a housing development for its members on an 843-acre, rural tract northeast of Lakeland. Initially 50 single-family homes are planned for the acreage on the east side of Moore Road about a half-mile north of Old Polk City Road. More

Events/ Neighborhoods

National Night Out: 62 Local Sites Host Events Tonight

Aug 6, 2019 at 8:12 am

National Night Out events all over town tonight are designed to strengthen ties between neighborhoods and law enforcement.
✓ More info: https://t.co/EIvbnl7r1L
✓ List of events: https://t.co/8YwY7Mz5wB pic.twitter.com/voT6nXVPKG

— Lkld Now (@LkldNow) August 6, 2019

Activism/ Neighborhoods

Buffalo Soldier Park Advocate Hints at Merged Names

Jul 15, 2019 at 11:22 pm

Dressed in the uniform of an 1898 U.S. Army cavalry soldier, Richard Wilder came to today’s City Commission meeting with a simple request: Promote Lakeland tourism and pride by naming a park between Lake Wire and Florida Avenue after the Buffalo Soldiers who camped along the lake 121 years ago. More

City Hall/ Neighborhoods

Developer of Affordable Housing Complex Seeks City Loan

Jul 15, 2019 at 7:14 am The Ledger

The Fort Lauderdale-based developers of a planned 80-unit below-market-rate apartment complex on Parker Street has asked for a loan from the city to help cover increases in construction costs. The Lakeland Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board last week approved a loan of $162,000 loan, half the amount requested by Green Mills Group (website). A final decision on the loan request will come from the City Commission. Construction at Parker Street and Stella Avenue is scheduled to start in September.

Business/ Neighborhoods

Mirrorton Developer May Seek Another Land-Purchase Delay

Jul 14, 2019 at 7:59 am The Ledger

The Tampa developer that plans to develop 14 vacant acres east of the Lakeland Police Department headquarters into the Mirrorton apartment/townhouse community is considering asking the city for 60 more days before finalizing the $3.66 million land purchase. The Framework Group was first scheduled to close the deal by May but has the right to delay until September 21 and may seek 60 days beyond that, Lakeland Community Redevelopment Director Alis Drumgo said. The agency’s advisory board could either agree to an extension request or opt to seek a new developer.

History/ Neighborhoods

Name Change Sought to Honor Buffalo Soldiers

Jul 11, 2019 at 9:22 am

Buffalo Soldiers historical marker

Freedom Park

The cavalry troops known as buffalo soldiers who camped on the shore of Lake Wire in 1898 are remembered by a historic marker on the Peachtree Street side of the lake. But buffalo soldier re-enactor Richard Wilder wants a more significant commemoration. On Monday, he will ask city commissioners to change the name of nearby Freedom Park — a grass field along Florida Avenue near Lawton Chiles Middle School — to Buffalo Soldiers Park. The buffalo soldiers were a U.S. Army horseback regiment made up of African-American soldiers who had served in western states.
ALSO: Bay News 9 coverage | Video: buffalo soldier re-enactment

Neighborhoods

Palmetto Street Corridor Searches for Identity

Jul 10, 2019 at 7:49 am

Outside of the Lakeland Public Library and Black & Brew.

On a recent, 98-degree afternoon, the lot shared by Lakeland Public Library and Polk Museum of Art was mostly full. Patrons wandered into the library. Black & Brew’s porch near the library entrance held people reading, studying, and just taking in a quiet moment. A small group sat at one of Red Door’s shaded patio tables. A runner passed by, headed toward Lake Morton. Cars made brief stops at Mr. Fish on East Palmetto Street and a little further down at the Stop N Shop convenience store, while a few people carefully folded laundry at Lake Morton Coin Laundry.

But two buildings along East Palmetto sit unfilled and largely ignored, except for the occasional wonderer of whether Marco’s Pizza is actually “coming soon” to the building at 719 E. Palmetto St. or whether anything actually operates out of the one at 801 E. Palmetto St. More

Neighborhoods/ Public Safety

Fire-Starting Vandals Target Dixieland, Lake Morton

Jul 1, 2019 at 7:58 pm

A fire that damaged a tall sliding board at Dobbins Park Saturday morning is the most recent of 16 vandalism fires reported to Lakeland police over the last few weeks. All have been in the early morning hours in Dixieland and neighborhoods near Lake Morton.

First, seven garbage and recycling containers were set ablaze on June 12, according to police spokeswoman Robin Tillet. Six more were set afire Friday morning. Also Friday morning, five lawn chairs were torched on a truck bed on Lake Morton Drive, and so was a construction dumpster at a work site on Florida Avenue at East Ridgewood Street. More